Boomtown Fair: Fake Twitter accounts hamper festival

Attempts by organisers to communicate with people stuck in queues outside a festival were hampered by fake Twitter accounts.The spoof accounts posted controversial comments while fans waited for hours to enter Boomtown Fair near Winchester.In one message, @BoomtownFairr tweeted: “Please stop moaning about the queues at Boomtown, it could be worse, at least it’s not raining. Thank you.”Organisers said they were trying to get the accounts shut down.Some Twitter users were offended by the messages.Rachel Hall replied: “Whoever is handling your social media should be sacked. This is not the way to speak to your very very unhappy customers!”Samantha M tweeted: “You’re tweets are quite frankly disgusting. no food, we are cold & we don’t know where we will spend the night. Just sort it out!!!!”

The four-day music and arts event at Matterley Bowl is in its third day, with acts including The Specials and Cypress Hill performing.Organisers said Thursday’s queuing problems were caused by wet weather and increased security measures.Revellers reported fights, fainting and sunburn as they waited up to 10 hours to enter the site.Boomtown had been using its official Twitter account to pass on important safety information and updates.A spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the fake accounts and have notified Twitter to try to get them removed. “We have been monitoring the comments as closely as possible to inform our customers of the official Boomtown account to follow and correct the information being posted to direct people back to our official social accounts. “For anyone wanting to be kept up to date on the official messaging from Boomtown please follow our Twitter account @boomtownfair or Facebook page @boomtownofficial.”
Source: BBC Hampshire